The Perception Lab

The Perception Lab is run by Dave Perrett. We are based in the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. Our research is funded by the ESRC, BBSRC, S.I.N.A.P.S.E, Unilever, and the EPSRC.

In the lab, we investigate the many facets of face perception...What makes one person appear more trustworthy and cooperative than another? What is the relationship between health and attractiveness, and which physiological factors influence this relationship? How big do differences between facial characteristics have to be for us to perceive them? These are just a few of the topics we're interested in.

Use the links above to find out more about us and our work...

 

Click Here to Participate in one of Our Experiments!!

Current Vacancies

There are no current vacancies. However, if you are interested in joining the lab please contact Dave Perrett to discuss possible PhD or Post-Doc opportunities.

 

Recent Publications & Media

Selected Recent Publications

Re, D.E., DeBruine, L.M., Jones, B.C., & Perrett, D.I. (2013). Facial cues to perceived height influence leadership choices in simulated war and peace contexts. Evolutionary Psychology. Available as PDF

Re, D.E., Dzhelyova, M., Holzleitner, I. J., Tigue, C. C., Feinberg, & Perrett, D.I. (2012). Apparent height and body mass index influence perceived leadership ability in three-dimensional faces. Perception. Available as PDF

Re, D.E., & Perrett, D.I. (2012). Concordant preferences for actual height and facial cues to height. Personality and Individual Differences. Available as PDF

Hahn, A.C., Whitehead, R.D., Albrecht, M.A., Lefevre, C.E. & Perrett, D.I. (2012). Hot or not? Thermal reactions to social contact. Biology Letters. Available Online

Lefevre, C. E., Lewis, G. J., Bates, T. C., Dzhelyova, M., Coetzee, V. , Deary, I. J., & Perrett, D. I. (2012). No evidence for sexual dimorphism of facial width-to-height ratio in four large adult samples. Evolution and Human Behavior. Available Online

Whitehead, R.D., Re, D., Xiao, D., Ozakinci, G. & Perrett, D.I. (2012). You are what you eat: Within-subject increases in fruit and vegetable consumption confer beneficial skin-color changes. PLOSone, 7(3), e32988. Available Online

For a full list of publications click here

 

Recent Media

Men Make Women Glow! BBC coverage of a recent study from the lab

There's An App For That! Face Transformer App for iPhone!

Meet the Royal Heirs (Online Article) Available Via the New Scientist Website

In Your Face: The New Science of Human Attraction (Book) Available from Bookstores

Santa Baby: An Analysis of St Nick's Sex Appeal (News Article) Available as PDF